270 
method than in the depasturing one; and pro- 
bably no one piece, if wisely managed, would 
ever do less than feed at least three or four times 
more, while many a piece might feed so much as 
seven or eight times. Waste often occurs also 
in the soiling method, indeed, by portions of 
leguminous crops getting into pod before being 
cut, by portions running into over-ripeness and 
decay, and by some part of the cut and carried 
supplies being trodden down or heated ; but these 
modes of waste, as well as all others incidental 
to soiling, may easily be avoided by methodical 
proportioning of the different kinds of green 
crop, by timeously cutting down the excess of 
each for hay, and by proper system in the daily 
carrying and feeding; while the methods of 
waste and loss incidental to depasturing—such 
as the trampling down of the herbage, the de- 
fouling of it with excrements, and the total 
occupation of the land with it to the exclusion 
of bulky green crops and of all cereal ones—are 
inevitable and unmitigable. Even, too, in spite 
of waste needlessly incurred in soiling practices, 
and in spite also of clumsier and less economi- 
cal methods of husbandry employed in raising 
the crops, the various trials recorded long ago in 
the Annals of Agriculture clearly demonstrate that 
avastly greater number of stock may be kept upon 
the same extent of land by soiling than by de- 
pasturing.—But a third and even greater advan- 
tage is the obtaining of a comparatively vast quan- 
tity of excellent manure for the raising of rich 
crops on the additional lands made available for 
arable husbandry. In the depasturing system, the 
excrement of live stock contributes scarcely any 
thing in the way of fertilizement, being scattered 
about the fields and dissipated by strong ex- 
posure to the sunshine and the weather ; or, on 
the whole, it is rather injurious than useful, 
blanching and burning the tender grass on the 
spots where it falls, and rendering them for a 
long time blank and practically barren. “ But 
soiling with green food in summer is a method 
admirably calculated for producing an abun- 
dance of manure; as from the great increase in 
the urinary discharges in the consumption of 
green food in this way, and the heat of the sea- 
son, the littering material, whatever it may be, 
is speedily converted into manure; by which 
means, with proper attention, vast stores of ma- 
nure may consequently be raised, where there 
would otherwise be none. By these means the 
summer produce in manure may probably be 
made to exceed that of the winter, and at the 
same time be superior in quality, as there is 
reason to suppose, that the manure produced by 
any kind of cattle fed in the same way, when 
not in a state of fattening, is much better in the 
summer than in the winter season. ‘The propor- 
tion of valuable manure that the careful farmer 
may be capable of providing by this system of 
management is scarcely to be conceived, except 
by those who have been in the practice. In this 
SOILING. 
view it is of much importance to have reser- 
voirs for the reception of the urine, in order that 
it may be occasionally thrown up over the litter, 
and thereby promote its more speedy conversion 
into manure.” 
In order to ensure the full benefits of soiling, 
the farmer who practises it must pay strict at- 
tention to the circumstances connected with it, 
—particularly to having convenient sheds and 
yards, to the providing of suitable crops in 
proper succession and in due proportion, to the 
orderly and regular cutting, carrying, and appor- 
tioning of the food, and to the full and constant 
supply of suitable materials for the purpose of 
litter. The sheds and yards, as to both relative 
position and internal arrangement, ought to be 
such as to economise labour in the feeding of the 
stock and in the making and accumulating of 
the manure. The crops raised should be so select- 
ed and proportioned as, in the aggregate, to afford 
a constant and steady supply of green food from 
the beginning of spring till the end of autumn. 
Rye and winter barley, sown early in autumn, 
will be ready for use in the earliest mild weather 
of spring ; the same crops sown later with win- 
ter tares, and the young clover which was not 
cropped in autumn, will follow; the artificial 
grasses and the early-mown grass of water-mea- 
dows, will come next,—the latter modified and 
made palatable by intermixture of oats and cut- 
straw ; and clover, spring tares from successions 
of sowings, and lucern and sainfoin on farms 
which have suitable soil for them, will fully and 
uninterruptedly maintain the supply till the 
commencement of winter-feeding. Other crops 
also, such as white mustard and succory, may be 
made to lend their aid. The supplies from the 
field to the feeding-place ought always to be 
fresh, regular, and exactly proportioned to the 
current wants of the stock. No food should be 
allowed to stand packed in the carts, or to be ap- 
portioned to the animals in large quantities at a 
time ; forall is liable to pass rapidly into a state 
of incipient fermentation, and to become dis- 
agreeable and be rejected. The animals, too, 
thrive best by receiving their food in small quan- 
tities, at short intervals, and always in a per- 
fectly fresh condition ; and they ought, in every 
instance, to be fed at least three times a-day, 
and may with advantage be fed four times. Lit- 
ter ought always to be supplied in abundance; 
and wherever sufficient provision cannot be made 
for it in the form of straw, stores ought to be 
laid up of ferns, rushes, forest leaves, and any 
other similar materials which can be found. Care 
ought also to be constantly practised that thesheds 
and yards be kept well ventilated, that the cribs, 
racks, and other feeding spots be kept perfectly 
clean, that the bodies of the animals be kept free 
from all sorts of dirt, that a plentiful supply of 
pure water be maintained in a situation of con- 
stant access to the animals, that the kinds of 
food be occasionally varied and always agreeable, 
Sa 
a 
